EF1 tornado in Pittsylvania County, Virginia

This is the third and final segment in Virginia of a tornado that originated west of Pelham near Dusty Lane in Caswell County of North Carolina at 4:51 PM EST. After crossing Pittsylvania County and the independent city of Danville, the tornado continued northward and entered Pittsylvania County again at 4:58 PM EST. Numerous trees were damaged or destroyed, several outbuildings were destroyed, and minor roof damage occurred on numerous houses. The greatest damage was found on a farm at R and L Smith Road. Estimated maximum winds were 110 MPH. By 5:10 PM EST, the tornado finally lifted about two miles southwest of Dry Fork.

A strong cold front with a negatively-tilted upper level trough approached southwest Virginia. Plenty of wind shear with modest instability made conditions ripe for large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. The thunderstorms ahead of the cold front became strong enough to produce six tornadoes across portions of southwest Virginia. While the first tornado originally formed in Caswell County of North Carolina and crossed into Virginia, the other five all touched down in Virginia. These tornadoes caused significant damage within the cities of Danville and Lynchburg and within the town of Elon in Amherst County. It is the first time ever since storm data records began in 1950 that a tornado struck inside the city limits of Lynchburg.